John Steinbeck’s novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” shows economic devastation of the 1930s. Made into a movie, the story is about the Joad family, evicted, like many families, from their Oklahoma farm. Banks seized a lot of land thanks to the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. 1/5

In an op-ed on Daily Kos this week, AuntieB wrote of her conversation w/a family member of the owners of an orchard near her: “A few years ago, the family refinanced to install solar panels and new walk-in refrigeration. This year, their year-round workers were gone. Some ... 2/5

were deported by ICE. Others just left to avoid deportation. ... [W]hen they learned the migrant harvesters wouldn’t be arriving, they called the bank, hoping to defer the loans. The bank said no.
The orchard was auctioned off in two-acre lots in June.” [FN1] These times are eerie. 3/5

As a kid, I saw a bumper sticker several times: “Crime Doesn’t Pay/Neither Does Farming.” trump’s tax breaks for billionaires gives the billionaires more $ to buy up those farms, just like big banks did in the 1930s. Hell,it’s probably some of the same banks. 4/5

Footnotes:
FN1. AuntieB, “No Tassels, No Ears. A Sterile Summer in Northern Ohio,” Daily Kos,” 7/25/25, accessed 7/26/26. 5/5